There are many amongst us who love good food; well, most of us do! Then there are some who love good food and also have a passion for cooking; and very few who love food, can fix amazing recipes, and also talk about them in vivid detail.
Food authors and Chefs-turned-writers who pen stories about the history, journey, and the goodness of food are often hard to come by. And so are those readers that love food-stories and rummage for books in hardcover and paperback just before they gather their paraphernalia to begin cooking--instead of looking up random recipes and information available on the web.
At Ink, we regularly come across readers who have a close kinship with food related books — the rare breed who love to know the origin of food ingredients and their health benefits, and the cultural significance of food.
From our current collection of food-books, here are five that must be read by anyone even remotely interested in good food and delectable stories.
SHULPH PICKS
Happy Food for Life: Health, food & happiness by Henrik Ennart & Niklas Ekstedt
Based on revolutionary new research, this one includes what many common food-books don’t take into account: gut health. Yes; Ennart and Ekstedt focus sharply on the importance of gut health for our mental and physical well-being.
Instead of talking about food and recipes in a fragmented style, the authors make it a point to talk about lifestyle, food choices, and health holistically. One must surely read this one if Nordic diet and children’s food are things they are looking for. Cass Farrar for GQ says: “Happy Food For Life is the perfect balance of approachable scientific analysis, all of which makes perfect sense, blended with Ekstedt's carefully curated, very approachable recipes.”
Australian Food by Bill Granger
“I have always believed Australia serves the sort of food that brings people together – over coffee, over communal tables, over all-day menus – and makes us all feel good . . .”
That is Granger, writing on Australian cuisine in The Australian. Who wouldn’t you like to read a book by a chef dubbed as “king of breakfast” by The Telegraph Magazine, the ‘The Egg Master of Sydney,’ and “the restaurateur most responsible for the Australian café’s global reach” by the the New York Times?
Published in 2020, Australian Food is a cheerful book by one of the most celebrated chefs in the world. The read is pleasant with a lively picture of Australian food right at its centre, but it also amply showcases the global influences that have shaped and improved the famous Australian cuisine.
In its pages, you will smell and taste the local produce and receive ample knowledge about health and immunity attainable via the right local ingredients; but, mind it, never in a didactic way!
The Joy of Food by Rory O’Connell
Subtitled as “a celebration of good things to eat,” this one is indeed an amazing collection of the most precious recipes as it encompasses the Irish cuisine in beautiful detail—right from the Rustic Chicken to Sweet Geranium Posset, O’Connell writes with a rare intensity that reflects the innate joy he derives from food.
He supplies us with excellent ingredients and cooking methods that are both sustainable and simple. Illustrated with pictures and stories that are Rory’s personal, this food-book is inspirational and interesting in every way. It offers great value for it embodies amazing Chef Rory’s food and life philosophy.
Its back cover reads: “This is the book that Rory O’Connell was born to write.”
We assure you, this statement isn’t a hyperbole.
The Food Mood Connection by Dr. Uma Naidoo
Written by Dr. Uma Naidoo, a nutritional psychiatrist from Harvard, this informational book talks about the effect of food on our mood. Including well-researched details, Naidoo gives us concrete lessons in mental health and nutrition.
She includes traditional food-wisdom to support her ideas on the food-mood connection and tells us the precise reasons why every society, community, and household may have different food choices and preference of comfort foods.
“Food genuinely is an important source of comfort, especially in people who have suffered from trauma.”
The author focuses on improving one’s intuitive relationship with food. If we listen to our body’s individual needs and its reactions with certain food types, we shall never go wrong with our mood, she suggests.
If you see yourself resorting to quick packet-noodles and colas or dialling a pizza ever so often, then this book can be your saviour.
I Heart Soul Food: 100 Southern Comfort Food Favorites by Rosie Mayes
Food critic and YouTuber, Daymon Drops says Maye’s book is “almost like having her over to cook for you and the entire family.” This is the kind of instant connection most readers feel with her amazing book.
Having learnt to love and cook food in the most traditional way along with her mother, aunts, and cousins, Mayes is a famous chef and social media food-influencer today. And her I Heart Recipes is a one-stop recipe and food-conversations’ resource for many people on the web.
Filled generously with colourful pictures and easy to follow recipes, this one can be your everyday confidant and guide if you are a beginner in the realms of cooking. And then there are many videos on her YouTube channel where you can see the recipes being followed with love and perfection.
Food-readers cannot stop raving about this one because Maye’s book is all about staple ingredients that all of us already have in our kitchen. Basic is good.
Written by Bella Nome,
Content Manager, Shulph